WWE CLASH IN ITALY

 

Turin, Italy

CODY RHODES vs. GUNTHER (11:35): The critics all hated this show. Honestly, it just felt like a typical WWE show. I'm not sure what anyone watching this show was expecting. The WWE hasn't been good in years. This first match kind of makes the case for why the WWE isn't good. This was for one of the championship belts. You would think a championship match would be the main event or the co-main event and be around 25 minutes long. You would be sorely mistaken! This goes on first and is a mere 11 minutes long. That's not the only problem. Don't you think that the guy they picked to beat and retire John Cena would...I don't know...get a push? Otherwise, what the fuck was the point of having John Cena lose on his retirement show and have everyone watching be sad? Well, Gunther retires Goldberg, Cena, and AJ Styles...and now he's losing his title match to Cody. Gunther did have his foot under the ropes during some of the count, which Michael Cole and Corey Graves mentioned. The match was at least all action. Cody somehow got out of the sleeper hold, which made no sense. This was a good match that could've used more time and perhaps a different finish. **1/2

RHEA RIPLEY vs. JADE CARGILL (16:57): This wasn't very good. I kind of zoned out watching this match because how monotonous it was. The crowd here in Italy was pretty loud for the men's matches but not for either of the women's matches. The ending of this was lame. Charlotte Flair came out and put Rhea's foot on the ropes at one point to save her. This came after Jade's goons ran out to attempt to put Jade's foot on the ropes to save her. *

BROCK LESNAR vs. OBA FEMI (6:21): This was the best match on the show because it was all action and the crowd was super into it. The glaring problem is that Oba beat Brock and Brock retired...then came back. Oba was the big, new, unbeatable star on the main roster now...so why the heck did they beat him already? And why have Brock be the one to beat him? Brock is, apparently, still going to retire sometime this year. Why not have Oba be undefeated for a year and then have a new star born by beating him? I don't know...the writers in the WWE are fucking morons a lot of the time. This match was exciting, though. It could've still been exciting if Oba won. **1/2

SOL RUCA vs. BECKY LYNCH (14:02): Sol Ruca won the Intercontinental title. You might be asking: why does Becky Lynch, one of the company's biggest stars, have the Intercontinental title? And I would not have an answer. It used to be that the Intercontinental title was for the up-and-coming stars on their way to the main title and main event platform. Eh, this match was sloppy. Sol Ruca does a lot of high flying but all her matches are kind of a sloppy mess. This never heated up into anything worthwhile. *1/2

ROMAN REIGNS vs. JACOB FATU "TRIBAL COMBAT MATCH" (27:02) I think one reason everyone online hated this show was because this main event was a dull slog. I often harp about how short most WWE PPV matches are...and now I'm complaining that this match was too long. I mean...there is a sweet spot, somewhere. This was a weapons and no DQ match, so they brawled in the stands, broke a table, fell through the barricade at ringside. This match made no sense, since their previous match had a stipulation that if Jacob lost he would have to acknowledge Roman. He didn't! So he lost again and now has to acknowledge him...again! After this match, the other Bloodline showed up to stare at Jacob (some of them were fired, but Solo Sikoa and one of the Tongans is left). That means...they're still doing the Bloodline feud! Jesus Christ! *1/2